Review: Katalina’s Cafe Corner

As I gazed up from my greasy, fat-splattered fingers into the blazing late morning light, bouncy music leaped into my ears with this carpe-diem lyric: “I’m gonna soak up the sun/Before it goes out on me.” Normally, I’d try to tune out an overplayed Sheryl Crow radio hit like that, but in that minute, the catchy ditty felt just right.

And hell, I realized I wasn’t really angry at that crazy sandwich for mucking up my hands so badly. Called the Mazatlan Slow-Roasted Pork and Egg ($9.25), it’s a signature, buttery-toast-bound destroyer from Katalina’s Cafe Corner, and though it was shamefully over-the-top, it tasted kinda great in its own soak-it-up and live-for-today way.

Therefore I hoisted the Mazatlan monster into my mouth again and, fully immersed in the sparkling spring morning on Katalina’s lovely little patio, dug in. An onslaught of sorta torta-like (Mazatlan’s a Mexican resort) hard-fried egg, gobs of gooey cheese, mayo, avocado and roasted red pepper strips (for a tangy sweetness) greeted me along with Katalina’s slow-roasted pork. The housemade last ingredient — which tasted like pulled shoulder meat in an almost Mayan-style barbecue sauce — points to the changes Cafe Corner has embraced since altering ownership around two years ago and taking on the name Katalina. It’s these newer and improved things, along with Katalina’s neat patio, that I came to enjoy.

That’s not to say eating inside tiny Katalina’s is a bummer. In fact, it’s rather a fun and funky hipster hangout in there, with a wacky “Addams Family”-type chandelier, rainbow-colored chalkboarded menus and various other amusing thrift store-style bric-a-brac.

And Katalina’s mainstay arsenal of hot and cold-running deli sandwiches is certainly worthy (they come with chips or an apple — I recommend upgrading, for $1.50, to a homemade side like tangy and spicy poblano potato salad or olive-y pasta salad). Made with decent Boar’s Head meat, they’re tricked out with good toppings and receive an irresistibly crispy treatment for their XXL-sized, craggy and high-quality bread slices.

But here are some of the newer, more homemade and Latin-touched goodies I dug into on Katalina’s quaint and relaxing residential patio.

• Slow-cooked pork tacos ($10) That aforementioned Mazatlan meat worked better in this comparatively restrained trio of thick and commercial but flavorful corn tortillas garnished with the works (tomatillo salsa, queso fresco, sour cream, avocado and more), sided with a nice and ruffly-leafed salad.

• Latinized Chicken Salad sandwich ($9) Like the hummus, it’s not flagrantly “Latin” — but it’s some of the best chicken salad in town. Placed onto crusty nine-grain bread, it’s made with bits of walnut, grapes, a touch of celery and a ton of big chunks of good chicken meat held together with just enough mayo; this makes for a fresh and refreshing texture fest.

• Puebla BLT ($8.25) A grade-A BLT with good cheddar cheese shoots up to A+ with the addition of a spicy chipotle BBQ sauce